39 Miss. Code. R. 4-I-7-101

The Level 3 review shall be conducted in accordance with the following process:

1. An EU shall, within 10 business days of receipt of an Interconnection Request, inform the Interconnection Customer in writing or by electronic means that the Interconnection Request is complete or incomplete and indicate what, if any, materials are missing.

2. When the Interconnection Request is deemed not complete, the EU shall provide the Interconnection Customer with a written list detailing information required to complete the Interconnection Request. The Interconnection Customer shall have 10 business days to provide appropriate data in order to complete the Interconnection Request, or the Interconnection Request shall be considered withdrawn. The parties may agree to extend the time for receipt of the additional information. The Interconnection Request shall be deemed complete when the required information has been provided by the Interconnection Customer, or the parties have agreed that the Interconnection Customer may provide additional information at a later time.

3. When an Interconnection Request is complete, the EU shall assign a Queue Position. The Queue Position of an Interconnection Request shall be used to determine the cost responsibility necessary for the facilities to accommodate the interconnection. The EU shall notify the Interconnection Customer about other higher-queued Interconnection Customers that have the potential to impact the cost responsibility.

4. Level 3 Scoping Meetings shall be conducted as follows:

a. By mutual agreement of the parties, the Scoping Meeting, interconnection Feasibility Study, interconnection System Impact Study, or interconnection Facilities Study provided for in a Level 3 review may be waived;

b. If agreed to by the parties, a Scoping Meeting shall be held within 10 business days, or other mutually agreed to time, after the EU has notified the Interconnection Customer that the Interconnection Request is deemed complete, The purpose of the meeting shall be to review the Interconnection Request, existing studies relevant to the Interconnection Request, and the results of the Level 1 or Level 2 screening criteria;

c. When the parties agree at a Scoping Meeting that an interconnection Feasibility Study shall be performed, the EU shall provide to the Interconnection Customer, no later than 5 business days after the Scoping Meeting, an interconnection Feasibility Study agreement, including an outline of the scope of the study and a nonbinding good faith estimate of the cost to perform the study;

d. When the parties agree at a Scoping Meeting that an interconnection Feasibility Study is not required, the EU shall provide to the Interconnection Customer, no later than 5 business days after the Scoping Meeting, an interconnection System Impact Study agreement, including an outline of the scope of the study and a nonbinding good faith estimate of the cost to perform the study; and

e. When the parties agree at the Scoping Meeting that an interconnection Feasibility Study and System Impact Study are not required, the EU shall provide to the Interconnection Customer, no later than 5 business days after the Scoping Meeting, an interconnection Facilities Study agreement including an outline of the scope of the study and a nonbinding good faith estimate of the cost to perform the study.

5. Any required interconnection studies shall be carried out using the following guidelines:

a. An interconnection Feasibility Study shall include the following analyses and conditions for the purpose of identifying and addressing potential Adverse System Impacts to the EU's EDS that would result from the interconnection:

b. Initial identification of any circuit breaker short circuit capability limits exceeded as a result of the interconnection;

c. Initial identification of any thermal overload or voltage limit violations resulting from the interconnection;

d. Initial review of grounding requirements and system protection;

e. Description and nonbinding estimated cost of facilities required to interconnect the DGF to the EU's EDS in a safe and reliable manner; and

f. Additional evaluations at the expense of the Interconnection Customer, when an Interconnection Customer requests that the interconnection Feasibility Study evaluate multiple potential points of interconnection.

6. An interconnection System Impact Study shall evaluate the impact of the proposed interconnection on both the safety and reliability of the EU's EDS. The study shall identify and detail the system impacts that result when the proposed DGF is interconnected without project or system modifications, focusing on the Adverse System Impacts identified in the interconnection Feasibility Study and potential impacts including those identified in the Scoping Meeting. The study shall consider all generating facilities that, on the date the interconnection System Impact Study is commenced, are directly interconnected with the EU's system, have a pending higher Queue Position to interconnect to the system, and have a signed a DGF Interconnection Agreement.

a. An interconnection System Impact Study shall be performed when the interconnection Feasibility Study identifies a potential distribution system Adverse System Impact. The EU shall send the Interconnection Customer an interconnection System Impact Study agreement within 5 business days of transmittal of the interconnection Feasibility Study report. The agreement shall include an outline of the scope of the study and a good faith estimate of the cost to perform the study. The System Impact Study shall include:

i. A load flow study;

ii. Identification of affected systems;

iii. An analysis of equipment interrupting ratings;

iv. A protection coordination study;

v. Voltage drop and flicker studies;

vi. Protection and set point coordination studies;

vii. Grounding reviews; and

viii. Impact on system operation.

b. An interconnection System Impact Study shall consider the following criteria:

i. A short circuit analysis;

ii. A stability analysis;

iii. Alternatives for mitigating Adverse System Impacts on affected systems;

iv. Voltage drop and flicker studies;

v. Protection and set point coordination studies; and

vi. Grounding reviews.

c. The interconnection System Impact Study shall provide the following:

i. The underlying assumptions of the study;

ii. The results of the analyses;

iii. A list of any potential impediments to providing the requested interconnection service;

iv. Required Distribution System Upgrades; and

v. A nonbinding good faith estimate of cost and time to construct any required Distribution System Upgrades.

d. The parties shall use an interconnection System Impact Study agreement approved by the Commission.

7. The interconnection Facilities Study shall be conducted as follows:

a. Within 5 business days of completion of the interconnection System Impact Study, the EU shall send a report to the Interconnection Customer with an interconnection Facilities Study agreement, which includes an outline of the scope of the study and a nonbinding good faith estimate of the cost to perform the study;

b. The interconnection Facilities Study shall estimate the cost of the equipment, engineering, procurement and construction work including overheads needed to implement the conclusions of the interconnection Feasibility Study and the interconnection System Impact Study to interconnect the DGF. The interconnection Facilities Study shall identify:

i. The electrical switching configuration of the equipment, including transformer, switchgear, meters and other station equipment;

ii. The nature and estimated cost of the EU's Interconnection Facilities and Distribution System Upgrades necessary to accomplish the interconnection; and

iii. An estimate of the time required to complete the construction and installation of the facilities;

c. The parties may agree to permit an Interconnection Customer to separately arrange for a third party to design and construct the required Interconnection Facilities. The EU may review the design of the facilities under the interconnection Facilities Study agreement. When the parties agree to separately arrange for design and construction and to comply with security and confidentiality requirements, the EU shall make all relevant information and required specifications available to the Interconnection Customer to permit the Interconnection Customer to obtain an independent design and cost estimate for the facilities, which shall be built in accordance with the specifications;

d. Upon completion of the interconnection Facilities Study, and with the agreement of the Interconnection Customer to pay for the Interconnection Facilities and Distribution System Upgrades identified in the interconnection Facilities Study, the EU shall provide the Interconnection Customer with a DGF Interconnection Agreement within 5 business days; and

8. When an EU determines, as a result of the interconnection studies conducted under a Level 3 review, that it is appropriate to interconnect the DGF, the EU shall provide the Interconnection Customer with a DGF Interconnection Agreement. If the Interconnection Request is denied, the EU shall provide a written explanation setting forth the reasons for denial;

9. An Interconnection Customer shall have 30 business days from receipt of the DGF Interconnection Agreement, unless another mutually agreeable time frame is reached, to sign and return the DGF Interconnection Agreement to the EU. If an Interconnection Customer does not sign the DGF Interconnection Agreement within 30 business days, the Interconnection Request shall be deemed withdrawn unless the Interconnection Customer requests in writing, prior to the expiration of the 30 business-day period, to extend the deadline. The EU may not unreasonably deny the request for extension. When construction is required, the interconnection of the DGF shall proceed according to milestones agreed to by the parties in the DGF Interconnection Agreement. The DGF Interconnection Agreement may not be final until:

a. The milestones agreed to in the DGF Interconnection Agreement are satisfied;

b. The DGF is approved by electric code officials with jurisdiction over the interconnection;

c. The Interconnection Customer provides a Certificate of Completion to the EU. Completion of local inspections may be designated on inspection forms used by local inspecting authorities; and

d. The Witness Test was successfully completed per the terms and conditions found in the Agreement.

Notes

39 Miss. Code. R. 4-I-7-101

Adopted 1/3/2016 Amended 8/12/2022 Amended 11/6/2022